Well Said. Much Of What Passes For Zen In The West Arrives Stillborn Or Severly Ill. I Have Pretty Much Given Up Worrying About All The Dead And Dying Zen, And Concentrate On Keeping What I Was Passed Alive And Healthy. Be Well, Fudo
--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Thanks for the last few postings that put into perspective the sutra reading. Zen is life and it is Buddhism. There is a context that the sutras (in part ) offer but it needs to connect into life. As a teacher of Buddhism at University and a resident of Asia for many years I can say that the Sutras are a part of practice but reliance on them as the primary element of Buddhism has killed Buddhism. Nothing is sadder than seeing the heartfelt questions and struggles of young people in Buddhist lands dismissed by arrogant scholar monks "when you pass grade 9 in pali studies then you know the answer." The alternative is not mushy New Agism but teachings that are intergrated into life experience both on the part of the teacher and yes by us the students. Without a mature practice (applying mindfulness in daily life) most sutra reading is prajna (wisdom) killing, an evasion of activating intelligence in favor of becoming a know-it-all authority. All great revivals in Buddhism while not rejecting sutras spoke from non-conceptual wisdom and challenged student to do the same. Sadly american buddhism is already half dead because it is the word game of an over educated elite (I include myself) that has made an ego business of it. Noble Eightfold Path: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration, Right Livelihood Yahoo! Groups Links ------------------ Rev. Fudo Michael Koppang -------------------- This message was sent from a PCS Phone from Sprint. Get a free PCS Mail account! Sign up via the Web Browser on your Sprint Phone or at http://www.sprintpcs.com. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> What would our lives be like without music, dance, and theater? Donate or volunteer in the arts today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/WwRTUD/SOnJAA/i1hLAA/S27xlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Noble Eightfold Path: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration, Right Livelihood Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZenForum/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
